We encourage members of our congregations, the people of the Twin Cities and our regional neighbors to join us not only in condemning this particular act of hate speech but also in learning about, humanizing and extending care to our Jewish neighbors, friends and family.

For us and for our congregations, interfaith learning, support and collaboration have strengthened our lives of faith, emboldened our pursuits for common good and expanded our capacities for compassion. While we, in these interfaith relationships, do not always agree on matters of theology or politics, we do always agree that we are each and all made in the image of God, have inherent dignity and worth and deserve the opportunity to live and flourish in freedom without fear.

We believe, even now, that it is possible for people of different faiths and political commitments to join together in creating a society and a world that is characterized not by mutual destruction but by mutual blessing.

Today, we bless, in particular, our Jewish neighbors, friends and family and invite you to join us.

The Rev. Jessica R. Patchett, Minneapolis

The writer is senior minister of Westminster Presbyterian Church. This letter is submitted on behalf of the Downtown Interfaith Clergy, including Imam Makram El-Amin, executive director, Masjid An-Nur (Mosque of the Light); the Rev. Jullan Stoneberg, interim minister, First Unitarian Society; the Rev. Ben Masters, interim pastor, First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); the Rev. Elizabeth Macaulay, lead pastor, Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church; the Rev. Timothy M. Kingsley, Cathedral provost, St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral; the Rev. JT Smiedendorf, intentional interim minister, Plymouth Congregational Church; the Rev. Peter Nycklemoe, senior pastor, Central Lutheran Church; the Most Rev. Kevin Kenney, pastor of St. Olaf Church and auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis; the Rev. Elijah L. McDavid III, senior pastor, Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church; the Rev. Jen Crow, senior minister, First Universalist Church of Minneapolis; and Rev. Daniel Griffith, pastor and rector of the Basilica of St. Mary.

Minneapolis is magical in the summer.

I’ll be walking down a sidewalk and stumble into a passageway made of sunflowers. I’ll be biking up a protected bike lane and whiz past charming homes near quaint clusters of small businesses. I’ll be running around the lake and see sailboats framed beneath the downtown skyline. I’ll be at the annual alley dance party with my neighbors, a little toasted.

Lush urbanity. Postcards once called it the city of lakes and parks — maybe we should revive that slogan.

Bad news has been washing over Minneapolis lately, cramming people’s heads with scary visions of urban decay. For my own sanity, I need to reflect on why there’s arguably no better place to live.

I grew up in Manhattan, a concrete jungle. It is too dense, too big for my taste. Minneapolis occupies a sweet spot. Its plentiful residents and visitors support a constellation of lively districts — big and small, corporate and eclectic — surrounded by tree-lined historical neighborhoods that exude a small-town feel.

There haven’t been this many people living in Minneapolis in half a century. It is not dead or emptying out, despite the implications of a recent primetime documentary.

And as with most places in Minnesota, it blossoms in the summer months.

Go stand in the middle of the Stone Arch Bridge at sunset, where a diverse hum of humanity crosses the Mississippi River surrounded by milling relics and plentiful new housing. This is not some aberration. Bop around sipping beers on an industrial chic strip like Quincy Street NE., or follow the enticing aromas down Nicollet Avenue’s Eat Street, and tell me this is some wasteland.